Published Undergraduate Research

In July 2020, undergraduate student Erik Rosenbaum published an article in the undergraduate-focused journal Issues in Political Economy. His faculty mentor was Dr. Hossein Abbasi.

Rosenbaum, Erik. "The apartment sublease market: time-constrained negotiation behavior with outside options and asymmetric information." Issues in Political Economy 29.1 (2020): 5-40.

Intermediate Macroeconomics (ECON325) Spring 2020 - Research Papers on COVID-19

In Spring 2020, Intermediate Macroeconomics students wrote papers on the potential effects of the Coronavirus pandemic on the U.S. economy. The papers analyzed effects along several key dimensions: production and supply chain disruptions; consumer demand effects; policy responses; and potential long-term effects.

Many papers discussed the impacts of this public health crisis on the airline industry, or transportation more generally; on medical equipment, elective procedures, or pharmaceuticals; on food and restaurants; on the entertainment industry, contrasting offline venues with online gaming and streaming services; and on consumer demand for necessities versus luxury goods.

In terms of policy, they discussed the CARES Act passed by Congress, the interest rate cuts and quantitative easing enacted by the Federal Reserve, the potential for negative interest rates, and the costs and benefits of aid to states versus industry versus consumers. What arose from many of these discussions is that no policy is perfect either in theory (because policies often have unintended consequences) or in practice (due to huge implementation challenges, especially when one needs to act relatively quickly). Policymakers must implement imperfect policies based on imperfect data, and with limited visibility.

Some papers also provided historical context by analyzing the effects of past disasters such as the 1918 Spanish Flu, the 1976 Tangshan Earthquake, the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. And while these disasters illustrate powerful recoveries spurred by resilient industries, aggressive aid, and creative government interventions, they also highlight how truly global the current disaster is, unprecedented in scale and scope.

The papers also focused on lessons to be learned or opportunities for growth and innovation going forward. Discussions of long-term consequences centered on remote working, changes to education and socializing, and the potential effects on the long-term social development of children.

Overall, the breadth of topics was impressive. Below we feature four of these papers.

"Effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Demand, Supply, and Policy" - J. Choe, J. Herberman, B. Kenah, N. Senjalia, S. Thorpe, and C. Trovinger

"Coronavirus Pandemic Implications" - M. Farr, S. Hu, S. Lindsey, S. Ripple, S. Srikanth, and C. Webb

"The Economics of COVID-19" - W. Cox, A. Hussain, P. Pittarelli, P. Robinson, M. Tchuindjo, and J. Zhao

"Analyzing of the COVID-19 Pandemic" - A. Bissell-Siders, R. Kearns, J. Lawrence, J. Slud, K. Wang, and R. Wang

Selected Honors Theses from Recent Graduates

Click here for selected honors theses from recent graduates.